East Carolina rolls past S. Andrews

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on November 17, 2008 1:46 PM

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GREENVILLE -- Progress and mental approach.

East Carolina men's basketball coach Mack McCarthy praised his team in those two areas after a 94-58 rout of St. Andrews Presbyterian College on Sunday afternoon inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

And he couldn't have been more pleased with the team's "sharing" attitude. The Pirates collected 26 assists on 36 field goals, including a game-high seven by sophomore guard Brock Young.

"We've got a lot of things we have to do better, but we're clearly sharing the basketball and trying hard," said McCarthy. "It's a lot of fun when you can share the basketball. That's a happier locker room when you have six or seven guys in double figures."

The Pirates had four players in double figures. James Legan pumped in 20, while freshman Darrius Morrow contributed his first collegiate double-double -- 15 points, 10 rebounds. Senior guard Sam Hinnant supplied a quiet 14 points and former Goldsboro High standout Daquan Joyner provided a career-best 13 points in 21 minutes of action.

East Carolina improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2004-05.

"We made some progress between Friday night and tonight, mostly in just how we approached the game mentally," said McCarthy. "I was really pleased with how receptive they were and how team oriented they were on both ends of the floor.

"I think we're going to have balanced scoring more nights than not. We have some people who can drive the ball, some who can hit the mid-range shot and obviously we have some three-point shooters."

Legan drained four 3-pointers while Hinnant added two, which tied him for seventh with Tony Parham on ECU's career 3-point field goal list with 139.

"Tonight (Legan) did one thing really well that he didn't do so well the other night ... getting the ball inside and attacking for most of the game," said McCarthy. "He had been settling for jump shots coming off screens Friday night instead of really attacking and getting 10-foot jump shots.

"The 20-foot jump shot is fine if he's wide open, but he was settling for that the other night."

St. Andrews led 10-5 before Legan nailed his first 3-pointer off Young's assist. The jumper ignited a 13-2 run which included baskets by Young, Legan and Hinnant.

The Knights (0-2) whittled the deficit to 22-18 on Zack Garst's layup, but managed just two field goals over the next six-plus minutes. East Carolina steadily increased its advantage and led 43-26 at halftime.

Legan and Hinnant combined for 23 first-half points.

"We came out and executed our offense, and I was just making shots tonight," said Legan.

East Carolina held St. Andrews to just three field goals in the first six minutes of the second half. The Pirates picked up their 18th consecutive victory over a Conference Carolinas opponent and remained unbeaten in three tries against the Knights.